EVEN amidst the current elections climate, none of government’s plans to pull Guyana up from a third-world country to a thriving economy with the help of oil have been sidelined, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan said on Friday.

Tackling the topic of infrastructure, Jordan said that the plans for a road which connects Georgetown with Lethem will be propelled with resources from oil and will open new doors of trade for Guyanese businesses.

Furthermore, he stated that this connection will bridge the gap between South and North America making Guyana the hub of transit. This will be coupled with investors which are already being attracted to doing business in Guyana.

“That is the last leg in this whole Pan-American highway that could stretch you right to Canada. I can tell you, if we can get that road going, some of our trade worries could end,” Jordan explained.

“We have virtually no trade with Brazil…with a road that goes there we can even sell Brazil sugar. This might sound like carrying sand to the beach but the towns that are bordering us there can buy from us cheaper than they can get that stuff from the massive territory called Brazil.”

This is not the only trade avenue available, the Minister noted as he reminded that a Partial Scope Agreement on trade exists between the two countries which will help to foster business-to-business ties.

Added to this is the International Road Transport Agreement for the movement of passengers and goods between Guyana and Brazil.
Speaking to the Ogle to Diamond Road Project, the Finance Minister said that with finances from oil Guyana can propel the initiative which sets aside provisions for a railway system.
“The design is a very modern design; it is designed to use rails down the road if we so choose. So, we don’t have to dig up back the road, dig up the cable and everything else [as], in the middle is designed to put in the rail whenever we’re ready so you’ll be driving on both sides but in the middle, when we’re ready, we could put a rail system from Georgetown maybe going right up to Linden but initially starting to go the airport,” he explained.

Railway transport is said to have benefits such as easy transport of goods and trade; larger transport capacity; tourism attraction; employment and it is the least affected by weather conditions and traffic jams.

Guyana’s massive rivers will also be utilized, Jordan stated, as better boats will be brought on board to transport people and goods at a reduced cost.
Minister Jordan said that many have been wondering which are amongst the first areas which will benefit from Guyana’s oil wealth and one of which, he noted on Friday, will be Guyanese public servants.

“Public servants can look forward to salary increases in 2019 and a bigger increase in 2020. You will expect that in any economy where we’re having these bounties that we are made to believe that we will get, that one of the first objectives for us to improve the welfare of our people,” he said.

The Minister said that therefore a service which is “second to none” would be expected as public servants will, in due time, be paid the sums they deserve.
Providing an update on the legal progress towards necessary legislation such as local content, he said that the Local Content Legislation is almost finished. “It’s [almost] finished so I think that will be available for public consumption fairly shortly,” he said.
However, Jordan said that while legislation is important it should not become the “be all and end all” of doing business in Guyana but the importance of its implementation should take greater precedence.

“Many companies that are coming here aren’t waiting for local content and other legislation. They are moving ahead and if various pieces of legislation represented the level of development, Guyana would be a very developed country because we have virtually legislation for everything. [But] the proof of the pudding always is in the eating; how we implement the legislation,” the Minster said.

He noted that even before the important Legislation is brought to the fore, Guyanese should not wait idly on this but utlitise existing legislation to ensure that level playing field for operation with foreigners and benefits for themselves exist.

He also maintained and explained his preference for targeted cash transfers as opposed to just a hand out of cash to Guyanese which can affect their work ethic. “I haven’t been a proponent of this business of just doling out money, giving you while you stay home. I’ve not been averse to cash-transfers but targeted cash transfers where you pay for somebody’s education, you may help a youth get into entrepreneurship…you obviously have to help the indigent, the aged, the vulnerable, the disabled,” Jordan said.
“You never want to give the impression where you can just sit home and receive a check in the mail every month.”

Meanwhile, Jordan said that the Government has been doing its fair share and encourages Guyanese to prepare themselves to benefit from the spill off of the oil industry in the service, contracting, food and other sectors by getting certified.

“Jobs are going to be created but we have to prepare ourselves for those jobs and we have to anticipate what jobs are going to be there,” he said. “Our oil industry is not onshore, it’s offshore, so there aren’t many oil jobs but there are many oil-related jobs and they’ll be even more jobs when we can use the money from the oil industry to diversify the country.” This diversification is expected to take place primarily in the areas of agriculture, mining and the light and middle industry.